The Inner Eye
by Zephyrclaws
Summary: Itachi sees Naruto's suffering, and tricks Fugaku into adopting him. When the rest of the clan is slaughtered, and Itachi dies of chakra depletion, Naruto and Sasuke are the only family they have left. NaruKyuuTem, SasuSakuIno
1. Brotherhood

The Inner Eye

Chapter 1: Brotherhood

Sasuke and Naruto will each have their own harem, to be revealed later. This is NOT a yaoi fic. As always, any reviews are appreciated.

Sasuke:...?

Zephyrclaws:Oh, yeah. I don't own Naruto.

Sasuke: *growls*

Zephyrclaws:Or Sasuke.

Sasuke: Much better.

And for those Strangers that may be on this site, yes, I am the same Zephyrclaws, Basement Monster/Mad Scientist at Kelchup, inc.

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On a bright, misty morning in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a lone figure in an ANBU uniform sped across the buildings, cursing himself for falling for such a simple trick. Someone had rigged his alarm clock to punch him when he got up. It might even have been funny, had it not knocked him out, making him late to the orphanage, where he was supposed to replace a fellow ANBU on guard duty. Considering who he was supposed to be guarding, he was doubtful that the man he was replacing would stick around after his shift was over. Arriving at the orphanage, he was surprised to see a bunch of chuunin on the roof, beating up a small kid with wooden staves. Itachi swore violently when he saw that the kid had spiky, electric-blonde hair. He landed on the roof, kidney-punching the nearest chuunin. The others gaped at him, shocked that anyone would want to defend the demon brat, and Itachi stared them down, his sharingan blazing. "You will not harm my ward. If I can still see you after ten seconds, I'm coming after you." The chuunin trembled. Even at the age of thirteen, Itachi was a master of intimidation. No one could look scarier than him when he wanted to. After ten seconds, there were still a couple left, so he used his specialty, genjutsu (not tsukuyomi, he doesn't have the Mangekyo.). Immediately, the chuunin dropped to the floor, writhing in agony.

Tossing them aside, he knelt beside the young boy, examining him for broken bones. There were several; had he not intervened when he did, young Naruto would be dead by now. As it was, he needed medical attention, and fast. Itachi picked him up, and shunshin-ed to the hospital, where he had to threaten the doctor just to get his ward looked at. The doctor probably would've refused to treat him, had the Third Hokage not walked into the room. The doctor sputtered something incoherent, then left the room, claiming he needed to round up some supplies... which the cabinets in the room were full of. Itachi growled, but the Third motioned for him to let it go. In a whisper, so as not to wake Naruto, he asked, "How did this happen?" Itachi's eyes hardened. "There was a group of about ten chuunin, beating on him with staves. Right there, in plain daylight, and no one else tried to stop them. I don't care what's inside him, to me he's just a little boy that needs protection." The Third frowned. "Did you identify any of them?" Itachi shook his head. "No, Hokage-sama, none of them were people I knew. However, I did capture a couple, and I called for a pickup. They should be able to tell us the identity of their friends. However, there is something else that I would like to talk to you about. Naruto is no longer safe in that orphanage. Realistically, he was never safe there. I would like to provide him with a place in my own home, so that I may better guard him." The Third smiled briefly. "Well, before we get into that, I would like to commend you for your actions in saving the boy. I am hereby promoting you to the rank of ANBU Captain." Itachi bowed deeply. "Your father will want to hear about this; perhaps after you tell him, he'll be more... amenable to the idea of Naruto living with you." Itachi grimaced. "In the meantime, I shall watch over him personally."

At the Uchiha compound, Itachi's parents were overjoyed that their eldest son had been promoted, and so soon! They neglected to ask exactly why he was promoted, assuming that he would tell him once it was made official. Itachi did nothing to disillusion them. His father hugged him (he's not completely evil, you know, just misguided.), and said "Son, for this special occasion, you can have any one thing you want, so long as it's in my power." Itachi smiled. This was a common Uchiha clan tradition, and he had been counting on it. Bracing himself for the storm he knew was coming he said, very quietly, "Father, I want you to adopt Naruto Uzumaki, and transplant into him the sharingan of the recently-deceased Makoto Uchiha." His father paled. "You want WHAT!!??" Itachi's mother fainted, and he rushed to catch her before she fell. Then, he turned to his father. "I know how you feel about him, but I am absolutely certain that the fox is in no way possessing him. Do you know why I was promoted? There were ten chuunin attacking him, beating on him with staves! Do you think that a demon would allow itself to be beaten? Had I not intervened, he would've died." Fugaku paused for a moment, considering. "Very well. I shall honor your request. However, though he may legally be a part of our family, do not expect me to call him my son." Itachi nodded. He'd been expecting something like this; His father hated 'the demon brat', but he was a man of his word. Itachi leapt through the open window, and his father ordered an Uchiha medic-nin to prepare for the transplant operation.

Several hours later, the bandages were unwrapped from Naruto's eyes, which were now the coal-black of an Uchiha. Fugaku said a brief prayer over the boy, finishing with, "Welcome to the clan, Naruto Uchiha." He quickly left the room, probably not wanting to 'contaminate' himself by being to close to the demon. Itachi sighed. Things would be a lot more difficult around the house now, but at least his new little brother was safe... And speaking of little brothers, he knew the perfect playmate for young Naruto. His other brother, Sasuke, was three years old as well, and probably lonely now that Itachi had the duties of an ANBU. The two would keep each other busy whenever he had to leave Konoha for a mission, which hopefully wouldn't be often. Itachi carried the still-injured Naruto to his room, having brought in a suitable bed for him shortly before the transplant. Later on, he would see about getting the boy his own room, or perhaps have him share Sasuke's, but for now, he wasn't leaving Naruto's side. After he set the traps on his doors and window, and checked to make sure no one had messed with his alarm clock again, Itachi laid down, reflecting on what an eventful day it had been. Later in the nigh, Itachi was awoken by Naruto whimpering in his sleep. Not surprising, considering what he'd gone through today... Scratch that, yesterday... Itachi was about to pick up the boy to comfort him, when he was surrounded by a cloak of red chakra. Almost as soon as the cloak formed, Itachi could hear a woman's voice singing softly. It was a haunting melody, but it was also strangely peaceful, and, hearing it, Naruto stopped whimpering, and sank into a deep, dreamless sleep. The cloak disappeared, leaving Itachi to wonder if all of the stories he'd heard about the kyuubi were true.

Over the next few days, Naruto was introduced to his new family. Most of them accepted him with barely-disguised loathing, but there was one little boy who immediately took a shine to him. After all, how could Itachi-neesan be wrong? Sasuke and Naruto became fast friends, and were often seen playing together in the back yard throughout the day. His friendship with Sasuke, and the love he received from Itachi and the Third were the only things that kept him going through the next five years. Itachi, after that first night, had decided to look up everything he could on the nine-tailed fox, and on bijuu in general. What he discovered made no sense to him. Fox summons, and especially the nine-tailed fox, never showed up spontaneously. Also, he was surprised to learn that they absolutely never attacked anyone without good cause; they were a peace-loving race who only fought if their families or their homeland were threatened. From this, he drew the conclusion that whoever summoned the kyuubi had an immense amount of chakra, and either did something to anger it, or... His blood ran cold. Surely... it wasn't possible, was it? Was there any Uchiha in history who had mastered the sharingan that well? He had to do some more research...

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5 years later...

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Naruto and Sasuke were both excited. Today was their first day at the academy, and the two were glad to get out of the house. Most of the other Uchiha shunned Naruto, thinking that he was the kyuubi's puppet, and, since Sasuke was his friend, they saw him as 'corrupted' by the demon's influence. They had Itachi, but only occasionally, as he was often busy with his ANBU duties. Often, they would go to the Hokage's mansion, and play with him, but most of the time he was busy with paperwork, and didn't have the time to play. Finally, they would have a chance to make friends, away from disapproving eyes... or so they thought. In reality, school was little better; most of their teachers ignored them, and most of the kids' parents had told them to stay away. Of course, when some of them saw what the two were actually like, they made friends anyway, but these were in the small minority. However, making new friends was an insignificant problem when compared to something far more irksome... fangirls. Of course, it was to be expected, but that didn't make it any less annoying. Mostly, they went after Sasuke, but Naruto had a few of his own, too. However, his paled in comparison to the annoyance of Sasuke's two fiercest fangirls: Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Haruno. They would constantly stalk him, and once or twice, Naruto had to save him from their ambushes.

Still, except for them, life wasn't all that bad. Naruto and Sasuke passed their first year at the top of the class, thanks to tutoring by Itachi, and the Third. But one day, shortly after the beginning of their second year, everything changed. Before they went to school, Itachi stopped them, and motioned for them to come to his room. They sat down, and he began to explain. "There is an uprising in Konoha, one that could tear the village apart." Naruto frowned. Even at his age, he knew this was a bad thing, and, as he wanted to be hokage someday, he didn't want to see anything bad happen to the village. Sasuke, on the other hand, had no interest in the job, but disliked the thought of anything threatening their village just the same. Itachi continued. "This is the work... of our father. Even now, he is persuading the last remaining members of the Uchiha to join him in overthrowing the Third Hokage, and reinstalling him as the Fifth Hokage. You two are the only ones who haven't heard of this, till now. I must stop this, and the only way to do so... is by killing them, all of them. By the end of tonight, you two, and if I'm lucky, I, will be the last remaining members of the Uchiha clan. You must keep this secret, though. If this were to get out, the whole village would panic, and probably destroy itself. Even if I do survive, I will be forced into exile." Naruto and Sasuke were crying. "Itachi-neesan, take us with you!" Naruto implored. Itachi shook his head slowly. "No. The life of a missing-nin is no life for you two, not as young as you are. You must carry on, and continue our line. Whatever you do, stick together. There is always strength in teamwork. As brothers, it is your duty to protect each other. Goodbye, little brothers." With that, he left the room, and sealed the door from the outside, making it one-way soundproof. He didn't want them to have to listen to their family members dying, but he did want someone to be able to find them, when his work was done.

Several hours later, a group of ANBU opened the door to find two shell-shocked boys clutching each other tightly, afraid to lose the one brother they had left in this world.

Later, they found out that Itachi had succeeded in killing all of the other Uchiha, but then died of chakra depletion afterwards. They cried themselves to sleep, still holding each other. The next day, they went to the academy, even though the Hokage had said they didn't have to; they had agreed, after a short discussion, that trying to do something normal would be best. When they reached the academy, however, they realized that this was a mistake, as almost everyone was badgering them, asking for details on what happened. Surprisingly, it was Ino and Sakura who saved them, beating back the spectators. Afterwards, Sasuke hugged them both gratefully causing their faces to turn bright red. Ino whispered into Sakura's ear, "You know, I hate to say this, but now that they're the last of their clan, Sasuke-kun can legally have more than one wife..." Sakura brightened, and smiled. They both looked at Sasuke, and said something he thought he'd hear them say, at least, not quite like this. "Sasuke-kun, we just want you to know, If you need us, either one of us, we'll be there for you, always. Do you want us?" Sasuke, overcome with emotion, could only nod silently. The three of them group-hugged, leaving Naruto feeling uncomfortably left out.

It was fortunate that they were in a relatively well-hidden part of the academy grounds, for at that moment, red chakra began pouring out of Naruto's mouth, coalescing into the shape of a girl about the same age as him, with fiery, shoulder-length red hair, ocean-blue eyes, and tan skin. She was abnormally well-developed for her apparent age, and the clothes she was wearing accentuated this (A/N: A younger version of the deviantart pic "kyuubi no youko"). A single red fox tail extended behind her. As soon as she was fully formed, she bear-hugged Naruto, with a strength that belied her small frame. After a while, she let go, and noticed the weirded-out looks everyone was giving her. She sat on the ground, and explained. "You all know of the nine-tailed fox that almost destroyed the village, nine years ago?" She grimaced as she said it, but no one seemed to notice. Sasuke said "Yes, my brother told me about it. He said it was very strange. He'd been doing research on the bijuu, and everything he found on the kyuubi seemed to indicate that it was a peace-loving creature, who only appears when summoned. He theorized that someone... well, it pains me to admit it, but... an Uchiha somehow mastered the sharingan, and hypnotized the kyuubi into attacking Konoha. He said that that level of mastery was called the 'Mangekyo', but he wasn't exactly clear on how it was done..."

The girl was somewhat surprised by this, and whistled, impressed. "Your brother was a smart man. You see, I am the kyuubi, though that's just a title. My name is Akari. When the Fourth Hokage fought me, nine years ago, he sealed me within Naruto, to keep me from destroying Konoha; also, I think he suspected the truth, and wanted to give me a second chance. If I ever get my claws on that Madara-teme..." Sasuke interrupted her. "Madara... Uchiha? I thought he was dead!" Akari shook her head sadly. "No, I'm afraid not, although he will be the next time we meet... With my power behind Naruto's sharingan, there's no way that bastard will hypnotize me a second time." She turned to Naruto. " I'm sorry about what I put you through. Those villagers hate you... because of me. Because they think that I'm controlling you. I'm so, so sorry." She was almost crying at this point, and Naruto gave her a hug. "Shh... it's not like it's your fault either." She looked up at him, her eyes full of hope. "Naruto, the truth is, watching you over the years, enduring what the villagers, and even most of your family put you through I've... really come to admire you. After what I've done, I would understand if you didn't want me..." Naruto put a finger on her lips, and then held her close. "Of course I want you. You're the kindest person I know. When I was little you were the one who would comfort me when I had nightmares, weren't you?" She nodded. "I just wanted to make up for-" And she was cut off as Naruto enveloped her in a crushing bear hug. "There's nothing to make up for. I love you all the same, I don't care what you are." She held him tightly, not wanting to let go, but eventually Naruto's seal forced her back inside his body. Sasuke grinned. "Well, brother, looks like you've found a... What did Itachi call it again? Oh, yeah, a soulmate." Naruto blushed.

Over the next few years, Naruto and Sasuke trained to become stronger, in order to ensure that they lived to see their line carried on. Ino and Sakura trained hard as well, while Akari taught everyone new jutsu. From her, Sasuke learned the fireball jutsu, although he could only use it about twice a day before wearing himself out, and it wasn't very large. Naruto learned the Wind Scythe jutsu, but he had trouble focusing it to the point where it would actually cut something. Sakura found some scrolls on medical jutsu in the Uchiha library, and, with Sasuke's permission, she and Ino began learning medical jutsu. Naruto also began endurance training, so that he could let Akari out for longer.

Finally came the day of the genin exam, the one that determined whether or not they could become Ninja of the Hidden Leaf. Naruto's control had improved immensely due to his practice focusing the Kamaitachi, while Sasuke's reserves had grown to the point where he could make his Fireball slightly bigger than he was, but could still only use it two or three times a day. With the improvement of their skills, the two boys decided to work on a collaboration jutsu, but they didn't quite have the timing down yet. Also, thanks to Naruto's endurance training, he could let Akari out for a few days at a time. Sakura and Ino had advanced in their medical training rapidly, inspired by their crush, and with tips from Akari. Apparently she knew just about every jutsu that had ever been created, and was more than willing to teach them. Every now and then, they would take a break from training, and head to the Hokage's mansion, to hang out with the old man. They even spent the night there once or twice, and he was glad of the company. Now that everyone else was gone, he was the only family besides each other they had left. True, they weren't legally related to him, but he treated them as his grandsons all the same. He took a special interest in Naruto, after he heard that the boy's dream was to be Hokage.

Naruto sat next to his brother, identical bored expressions on their faces. They'd passed the exam with ease, each creating the required number of clones. Now, they were only waiting for Ino to finish her test. She joined them, and they all set off for the Uchiha compound, not noticing the glares that Mizuki was directing at them. "You'll get what's coming to you tonight, fox demon..." After their evening training, Ino and sakura set off for their homes, leaving the two boys laying in their room. Sasuke whispered, "Ninja, huh?" Naruto smiled. "Yup." The looked at each other for a moment, then shouted "YOSH!!!!", which surprised Mizuki so badly that he fell off of the ceiling, where he'd been hiding in hopes of assassinating the two. They noticed that he had a large scroll on his back, and a smaller one in his pocket. Hastily, he picked himself up, and began delivering his 'backup speech'.

"So, you caught me, huh? No matter, I'll just kill you right now! I was going to make you help me find something, but I already found it, so I don't need you anymore! The secret scroll of the Uchiha!" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and, irked, Mizuki threw shuriken at the two boys... only to find that they were intangible. "Clones?!" He growled, then leapt out the window, to find the two waiting for him in the yard. Growling, he rushed to attack them... only to find that they were clones as well. Suddenly, he felt a lot lighter, and he looked behind him to see Naruto with the scroll of sealing, and Sasuke with the 'secret' Uchiha scroll. He twitched. "No matter, I've already studied the scroll of sealing, I can take both scrolls off of your dead bodies!" He formed the infamous cross seal, and three identical Mizukis 'poofed' into existence beside him. "Ha! Now I've got you outnumbered!" Simultaneously, Sasuke and Naruto rolled their eyes, then cracked their knuckles. Finally, they had a live target. Sasuke shouted "Fire style: Fireball jutsu! Then, Naruto used his own jutsu. "Wind style: Kamaitachi!" The two jutsu met, and a spinning mass of flame bored its way into Mizuki. "Collaboration jutsu: Spiraling Flame!". Mizuki landed on the ground in several pieces, all of them extra crispy. Sasuke hid the Uchiha scroll in his robes, and both boys smiled in triumph, before collapsing together against the porch. They'd poured all of their chakra into that attack.

The Third was watching them, and smiled as the ANBU he'd sent took the boys to the hospital, to be treated for chakra depletion.

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A/N: I've noticed a surprising lack of good Naruto Uchiha stories, so, since I haven't gotten back the work I did on NTG chapter four from my dad's, I decided to write my own. Also, as I write this, I've already finished chapter 1 of another story that centers on Naruto growing up with Sasuke, but in quite a different way; It's called Brothers.

Akari='Light of God/Power of God

Next chapter: Team assignments! I'll give away one thing right now: Akari is on Naruto's team. XD


	2. Lucky Sevens

The Inner Eye

Chapter 2: Lucky Sevens

I'll come out with the chapters as soon as I finish them. I can't really say when this will be, but I'll try to get faster. Any reviews are appreciated, as usual.

I don't own Naruto (or Sasuke). If I did, Sasuke wouldn't be such a jerk in the canon, and he'd pull that stick out of his ass.

Also, in the last chapter, Itachi is not female, that was a simple mistake when I confused nii-san for nee-san. He is their older brother, not their older sister.

I know this question isn't strictly related to the story, but why on earth do people keep calling the Fourth Arashi Kazama? People, the guy's name is Minato Namikaze!

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Naruto absolutely hated being in the hospital. Sure, he knew for most people it would've been necessary, considering the chakra exhaustion they'd experienced last night. However, he'd been fine as soon as he woke up; really, the only thing keeping him here was the fact that his brother was lying in the bed next to him. Even after all these years, he remembered Itachi-niisan's words, and he wasn't about to leave his brother alone in the hospital. He thought about Mizuki's death. The first kill was hard for any shinobi; he'd heard stories from oji-san about war, but hearing about it and actually experiencing it were two completely different things. He wondered how Sasuke would deal with it. Knowing him, his brother probably wouldn't show much, at least not in public. Ever since the 'incident', Sasuke and Naruto had both been a bit less open with those around them, although they still trusted each other with everything. Naruto shuddered to think of what would've happened to either of their minds had the other not been there for them.

He looked over at his brother, who was still a little pale. They'd poured everything they had into that last attack. Sasuke opened his eyes, and smiled over at Naruto. Wordlessly, he held up his hand, and Naruto high-fived him, grinning like a maniac. They heard a light knock on their door, and Naruto said "We're awake." Sakura rushed through the door, glomping Sasuke. Behind her was a tall, silver-haired man that looked to be somewhere in his early twenties. A mask covered most of his face, and is headband covered one eye. "Hello, Naruto, Sasuke. I'm your new sensei, Kakashi Hatake." Naruto smiled, but said nothing. Meanwhile, Sasuke was busy trying to get Sakura to let him breathe. Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Well, that was a warm welcome..." He shrugged. "Get plenty of sleep tonight. You'll need it for what I have planned for tomorrow. Come to the memorial stone at eight. Oh, and it would be best if you didn't eat anything for breakfast. You'd just throw it up." He left, and Sakura squealed. "Can you believe it? We're teammates!" Naruto and Sasuke sweat-dropped simultaneously. "Umm, Sakura?" She looked over to Naruto, her eyes bright with happiness. "Yes?" He chuckled. "You're choking your new teammate." She jumped off of Sasuke's bed, a look of horror on her face. Naruto chuckled, as Sasuke massaged his throat. He smiled at Sakura. "It's okay, but please, don't do that again." She giggled. "Okay, Sasuke-kun." He smiled at her, and the three genin left, leaving the smell of antiseptic far behind them.

Later that night,Naruto and Sasuke were speculating about what their sensei had planned for them. They agreed that it was probably best to ignore him about the not eating breakfast; as shinobi, they needed to be at full strength to train effectively. They also decided to bring some for Sakura, in case she listened to their sensei. Considering what she'd told them about his lateness, and his lame excuse for it, he was trying to trick them by making them think they had an incompetent fool for a teacher. They would have to be extra-careful tomorrow; if their sensei was trying to trick them already, who knew what he would do tomorrow. When they finished packing, Naruto had a pensive look on his face. Sasuke noticed, and nodded. "It's about Akari, isn't it?" Naruto sighed. "Do you think we should trust sensei with this?" Sasuke considered. "I think we should let him prove himself first. He probably knows about the fact that she's sealed within you; almost all of the adults seem to know, judging by the way they look at you. However, we don't know how he'll react when he finds out that you two are...," and he blushed, "together." Naruto smiled. "Yeah. We should wait until we know him better." Both boys lay down on their beds, each wondering what tomorrow would bring. Sakura snuggled into her pillow, thankful that she got to be on a team with the Uchiha Brothers, especially Sasuke. Ino looked up at the stars from her balcony, and hoped that Sasuke wouldn't forget her. Akari smiled in her cage. She was glad that Naruto was concerned for her feelings. In the village of Sunagakure, a new genin swung a fan at a training post, trying to forget about the monster her brother had become. several scars appeared on the post, and she wiped her brow, gazing into the shifting sands. Little did they know that someday they would be known as the strongest shinobi in the elemental nations.

When the three genin reached the memorial stone, their sensei was nowhere to be found, so Naruto unpacked the sleeping bags he and Sasuke had sealed along with other supplies in some storage scrolls they found in the basement. He tossed one to Sakura, who simply shook her head, a bemused look on her face. The three enjoyed a restful nap. Two hours later, Kakashi arrived to see his new students asleep on the ground. He sweat-dropped. Using a small water jutsu, he directed a small portion of the river to smack the three genin in the face. They awoke spluttering to see their sensei standing over them, chuckling at the looks on their faces. "Well, looks like you came prepared. I'm guessing you ate breakfast, too?" Naruto and Sasuke smirked, while Sakura's stomach gave a loud growl. "Very well then, don't say I didn't warn you. Today's exercise is a test, to see if you are worthy of being my students. If you fail, you'll be sent back to the academy, and you'll have to try again next year." He saw their shocked expressions, and he covered his ears, while counting silently in his head. 3... 2... 1... "WHAT??!!" "Kakashi-sensei, we already took a Genin Exam!" Kakashi sighed. "Sakura, that was only to find those who might have a chance to become genin. After that, it's your sensei's choice whether or not to teach you. Some make you pass another test, some don't. You guys just got unlucky." He gave his signature eye-smile. "Moving on. Your test is to grab these two bells from me. You have", and he looked over to the clock he'd set on the memorial stone, "two hours." "But Kakashi-sensei, why are there only two bells?" He smirked. "Because one of you has to go back to the academy. There were too many graduates this year." He checked the clock. "You now have an hour and fifty-five minutes. Begin!" The three genin vanished into the trees, taking their equipment with them.

After about fifteen minutes, Kakashi was curious as to why they hadn't attacked him yet, and decided to investigate. Coming across a clearing, he spotted Sakura sitting on the ground, munching on a rations bar. Perching in a tree, he began thinking about how best to test her, when suddenly he heard a kunai whooshing towards him. He dodged, and it narrowly missed his backside. he turned around to see Sasuke smirking at him from a nearby branch. He smiled back. "Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that, Sasuke." He heard a loud snort from the direction he'd been facing previously, and he saw Naruto holding the kunai that had narrowly missed his backside. Attached to it were the bells, along with a small patch of his pants. He thought about it for a second, before the lightbulb went off over his head. "You covered the blade of that kunai with adhesive, didn't you?" Naruto grinned. "That's right, sensei. Didn't you read our file?" Kakashi groaned. He had, but he hadn't believed most of it. The Uchiha Brothers were known as the worst pranksters in the village; three of their four teachers had been driven to early retirement because of the boys' antics. In their 3rd year, it had gotten so bad that many of the students bet each week on exactly which shade of flourescent pink the teacher's hair would be at the end of the day. Their final prank before they left the academy had been knock Mizuki out with ground-up sleeping pills in his coffee. When he finally came out of the teacher's lounge, his face was covered in kabuki make-up, his nails were painted bright purple, and he was wearing a pink tutu. Kakashi sighed. "Well, they did work together..." Naruto landed on the branch right in front of him, knocking his sensei off. "What was that you said, Kakashi-sensei? Oops!"

Kakasi rubbed his head. He couldn't believe he'd fallen for such a simple trick; he hadn't thought that the three would work together, thinking that the two boys, being Uchiha, would see their third teammate as inferior, and not bother working with her. He watched as Sasuke and Sakure kissed each other fiercely, and smacked himself in the forehead. Well, at least he knew they'd work together... He stood up, dusting off his pants. "Excellent teamwork. You all pass." Sasuke smirked. "That was the purpose of the test all along, wasn't it? To test our teamwork?" Kakashi sweat-dropped. Was it really that easy to figure out? He must be losing his touch... He sighed. "Meet here at ten a.m. tomorrow for your first mission. Dismissed." And he vanished in a puff of smoke. When Naruto was sure Kakashi was gone, he let Akari out, and the four of them celebrated loudly, not noticing that he'd hidden himself in a tree. His visible eye widened when he saw her; he'd have to ask the Third about that later. There was little point in raising a fuss now, as they were celebrating their first victory as a team. Besides, she looked harmless enough.

Down in the clearing, the genin and Akari were celebrating fiercely. He made a mental note to never let either of the boys get a look inside his Icha-Icha books. He grinned as he sped towards the Hokage Tower to make his report. He certainly got an interesting group this year...

Sarutobi looked down at his crystal ball, and sighed. Things just got a whole lot more complicated. He heard a light tap on his window, and he motioned for Kakashi to come in. "Hokage-sama, team seven passed my test. However-" Sarutobi cut him off. "Yes, I know. I was watching you." Kakashi nodded. "Do you know what that was?" Sarutobi sighed tiredly. "I have a suspicion... that that was the Kyuubi." Kakashi's eye widened. "But how?!" The Third shrugged. "I suspect you'll have to ask Naruto that. However, I believe that only a small fraction of the Kyuubi's power was released; otherwise, it probably would've gone on a rampage. From the looks of things it... no, she, is only as strong as Naruto himself. Bring him and his teammates to my office tomorrow morning, at eleven. And Kakashi, for once, don't be late." Kakashi sweat-dropped.

When Kakashi arrived at ten fifty, he got three peeved glares from his students. Seemingly ignoring them, he announced, "There's been a small change of plan. The Hokage wants to talk with the three of you, and especially you, Naruto." He pointed at his pupil menacingly, and Naruto paled. He knew about the crystal ball that the old man used to keep an eye on the village. Could he have been discovered? He smacked himsef in the forehead for forgetting about that yesterday. But Akari-chan had been so happy... His eyes acquired an unfocused look, and Sasuke, noticing the signs, had to smack his brother in the back of the head to get him to follow them to the Hokage Tower. When they arrived in the Third's office, his eyes bored into Naruto, his expression unreadable. After a while, Naruto sighed. "Very well..." He opened his mouth, and red chakra streamed out, taking the form of Akari. She smiled at the Hokage innocently. "Greetings, Hokage-sama." He flinched. "I suppose that you are the Kyuubi?" She wrinkled her nose. "That is my title. My name is Akari." He raised an eyebrow at this. "Would you care to explain exactly why you attacked our village?" This tie, she was the one to flinch. "Madara-teme..." Sarutobi was shocked. " Madara... Uchiha? How is this possible?" She lowered her head in shame. "That damn Mangekyo Sharingan. It grants him immortality, as well as extremely powerful hypnotic powers... powers strong enough even to control myself. The Third nodded. He'd been hearing rumors exactly like this about the Mangekyo even before he'd become Hokage. He looked towards the genin. "Well, then, it would seem I have no choice... but to ask you to become a Leaf Shinobi." He smiled. "It would make it a great deal easier to send you on missions as a part of team seven, and someone as powerful as yourself would be a welcome addition to the forces of the Hidden Leaf."

Akari's expression was one of complete shock, followed quickly by one of pure joy. She wouldn't have to hide any more, and she could fight again! Grinning like a... well, like a demon, she asked, "What's my background?" He smiled, and handed her a folder of papers, with everything filled out except for her name. He handed her a pen, and she signed 'Akari Myobu'*.

After they had completed their various D-rank missions for the day, Kakashi gathered team seven at their training field.

"I know we didn't really get a chance to do this yesterday, so why don't we tell each other something about ourselves? Even if you know each other well already, it'll give me a better idea of what kind of..." He glanced nervously at Akari, "people you are. I'll go first, to give you an idea of how it's done. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have many likes, including sparring and annoying my self-proclaimed 'eternal rival', Guy." Naruto interrupted. "Yeah, but what's the guy's name?" Kakashi looked at him warily. "Guy...?" Naruto groaned. "Yes, the guy! What's his name?" Kakashi smacked his own forehead. "Look, kid, I don't know what his parents were thinking, but his given name is Guy." Naruto's face fell. "Yeah, but what's the guy's name?" This time, Akari smacked Naruto in the back of the head. "It was funny the first time, Naruto-kun, but it's getting old!" He rubbed his head, scowling. "You could've just said that..." She grinned impishly. Kakashi sighed. "Moving on, I don't have many dislikes, other than loud noises, and anything relating to the word 'youth'. Your turn, blondie." Naruto grinned. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like Akari-chan, training with my friends, and ramen! I don't like people who hate me and Sasuke because of Akari-chan, and my dreams are to restore the Uchiha clan, and someday be Hokage!" Akari was upset at this; quickly, he realized his mistake, and hugged her tightly, comforting her with his warmth. Kakashi nodded. This was about what he'd expected from the boy. "Sakura, your turn." She smiled. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I like Sasuke-kun and Ino-chan, and I consider Akari to be one of my best friends. I also like training, and hanging out with Sasuke-kun and his brother. My dislikes are people who hate Sasuke-kun, and Naruto, and people who don't work for their dreams. My dreams are to be a strong kunoichi, and to help Sasuke-kun revive the Uchiha clan, along with Ino-chan." Kakashi's eye widened visibly at this, but he knew about the Clan Restoration Act, so he didn't say anything. "Now you, dark one." Sasuke smirked. "My likes are my brother, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, and training. My dislikes are people who are biased against us, and fangirls. Especially fangirls." Kakashi chuckled at this. It was a well known fact that the brothers had had fangirls chasing after them practically since they entered the academy. "My dreams are to become one of the strongest shinobi ever, and to restore the Uchiha clan."

"Wonderful. Well, starting tomorrow, after our missions I'll train the..." He glanced over at Akari, and she shook her head. "three of you. Today you have the day off, so that you can memorize Akari's cover story. Besides, I bet you wouldn't mind some 'alone time'..." He winked at Naruto and Sasuke, who both turned bright red. He left them to study the documents inside her folder. Apparently, she was found unconscious just outside of the village gates a few days ago, abandoned. It said she'd been tested by the Hokage personally, and that she was more than capable of carrying out the duties of a genin. She chuckled at that understatement. According to the files, she had a kekkei genkai that granted her quick healing, and larger than normal chakra reserves. They all laughed at that one. The documents listed her as living under the hospitality of the Uchiha clan.

The next day, they showed up two hours later than they were supposed to, and Kakashi arrived a few minutes later. He glanced at his students expectantly. "Aren't you mad at me for being late?" Naruto smirked. "Nah, we just got here a few minutes ago." Kakashi sweat-dropped. They finished their D-ranks for the day without much difficulty. There had been one case where they were assigned to capture a cat named 'Tora' that could've been annoying, but Sakura solved the problem by buying some catnip from Ino's shop, and using it as bait. It was really kind of sad that no one had thought of it before. After giving the poor cat back to the Fire Daiyo's wife, team seven leaped ot the window, bouncing from buiding to building to reach their training grounds. When they arrived, Kakashi faced his students. "Alright, before I can teach you anything, I have to know what you can do. What's your strongest move?" Sasuke and Naruto smirked simultaneously. "We've created our own, a collaboration jutsu." They were speaking in perfect synch, as if to illustrate their point. Kakashi twitched. "Okay, I appreciate the teamwork, but could you not do that? It's really creepy." Naruto chuckled. "This, from a cyclops?" Sasuke merely smirked. Kakashi sighed. "Alright, just show me." Sasuke grinned. "I hope you don't have any attachment to that training post! Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Naruto focused his chakra into is palms before pushing them out, yelling, "Wind Style: Kamaitachi!" The fireball spun into a whirling mass of flame, and the two shouted, "Collaboration: Spiral Flame!" The training post was destroyed, along with the next three trees behind it, and the fourth tree was singed, with cut marks all along the middle of the trunk. Kakashi looked over at Akari accusingly, and the look on her face said, 'Who, me?' Sakura chuckled at their sensei's surprise. She'd seen the move before once or twice, but they'd never managed to focus it to that extent before. She speculated that it had something to do with Mizuki trying to kill them.

As powerful as the move was, it completely exhausted the boys, so they sat with their backs against a forest giant, watching Sakura demonstrate her genjutsu, which made Kakashi thing that his Icha Icha was replaced with a gay novel. He passed out, and Sakura sweat-dropped. When he woke up, he tested them on their knowledge of the basics, and, once the boys had recovered, he had them spar each other so he could see what their taijutsu was like. He found it satisfactory for new genin, though he did say that he would bring weights for Sakura tomorrow, as her speed was a bit lacking. Privately, the two boys thoght that he was just trying to get back at her for the genjutsu she'd pulled. Meanwhile, Akari sat in a nearby tree watching, an amused expression on her face. The Uchiha left for home with identical pleased expressions on their faces.

Weeks passed, and though their taijutsu did improve, they didn't actually learn much from Kakashi. Instead, if they had a question, they would usually ak Akari, or consut one of the scrolls in the clan library. At night, the two boys would light a lamp, and read the 'secret' scroll Mizuki had found. It contained the favorite techniques of many of their ancestors, as well as more recent ones. They even found two that Itachi had put there himself, the Shadowclone, and the Exploding Shadowclone. They began learning those, and had mastered the normal Shadowclone in a few days. The exploding clones were a bit trickier, though. They kept detonating either immediately after they were summoned, or not all. Sasuke had better luck with it than Naruto, so they figured that it was because of his better chakra control. Nevertheess, they both pushed each other to the limits, and advanced rapidly. Already at the top of the academy when they graduated, they were well on their way to becoming chuunin, at least combat-wise. Sakura wasn't doing too bad herself. Although she'd hated wearing the weights the first day that Kakasi had punished her with them, she realized that they were a valuable tool to improve her strength, and she took to wearing heavier and heavier weights. Her medical training was going well, thanks to the near-endless jutsu scrolls in the Uchiha library, and Akari's advice. Since the Kitsune could see chakra, she could tell the girl when she was using too much or too little. After a month and a half, they were easily the strongest of the Rookie Nine. Ino still came over often for training, and she was almost as good as Sakura at medical jutsu, and had also begun wearing weights. this, combined with the family jutsu she was learning, made her a deadly opponent to face, in pretty much any situation. They always completed their missions quickly, and efficiently, but inwardly, they were spoiling for action, and it showed. Things came to a head when team seven showed up at the Hokage's office for their daily assignment.

"Let's see... you can weed a yard, walk a group of dogs, or take trash duty in the river by the West Gate." Naruto growled. "Oji-san, these missions are way below our skill level! Don't you have anything we can do that doesn't involve work that could be done by civilians anyway?" Kakashi sighed. "Although he should probably show a bit more respect, I have to agree with him. These three are definitely strong enough at least for a C-rank mission." The Hokage rubbed his temple. "Very well. It just so happens that we've received a mission that would be perfect for you. Your mission is to escort the client to the Land of Waves." He looked to his assistant. "Send him in." A minute later, the door opened, ad in waked an old man with a sake bottle in one hand. "You call these runts ninja?" Kakashi sighed, and grabbed both boys collars to prevent the from killing the man. "Don't worry, I am a jonin, ad more than able to deal with any bandits we might meet, even if they should fail. The man didn't look very happy about this, but he shrugged. "Whatever. I am Tazuna, bridge builder extraordinaire! I guess you're the best I'm gonna get... meet me at the gates in an hour."

"Naruto! Sasuke! Our job is to protect the client, not kill him!"

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As always, any reviews are deeply appreciated. Thanks for reading!

*Myobu are the sacred kitsune that guard the shrines of Inari (Shinto Fox Kami). It seemed fitting.


	3. Announcement

Announcement

Okay, I know that discourages author's notes as chapters, but I figure that this would reach more people than simply editing my profile - almost no one ever looks at those.

Anyway.

Recently, I've been faced with a dramatic decrease in free time. This translates into a good deal less attention to my stories, and so I am left with one option.

Adoption.

Yes, that's right. I'm keeping Partners, obviously, and maybe Scars, once I rewrite a couple parts in it, but anything else, I don't really have enough attention for.

However, I'm not just gonna give these away to the first guy (Or girl) who asks. To ensure that they find a good home, I'd like a message with the name of the story you'd like to adopt, as well as an example of your own work. I want to make sure that these ideas will get the time and attention they deserve, by an author who, at the very least, knows how to spell.


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